The comet’s position in the Solar System. Credit: caha.es
A Spanish astronomical observatory has detected a new comet, marking the first discovery of its kind by this type of telescope in more than four decades. The object has been officially designated P/2025 W3 (Kresken) following verification. The discovery was made at the Calar Alto Astronomical Observatory in Almería.
According to Europa Press, the comet was detected on November 28, 2025, during technical testing of a newly installed high-sensitivity camera on the 80-centimetre Schmidt telescope at Calar Alto.
The object was identified by Rainer Kresken, an engineer working with the European Space Agency, while carrying out routine calibration work as part of ESA’s Space Safety Programme. “The discovery was made during the very night of tests with a very sensitive new CMOS camera. That camera, together with the excellent telescope, allows astronomers to detect and observe very faint objects like that comet.”
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After inspecting some images he had taken, Kresken detected a faint object, showing a thin, elongated tail. On the images of the field taken in the following nights, the object had moved slightly on the sky, with its tail remaining elongated: it was for sure a new comet-like object.
Astronomers have stressed that such discoveries are increasingly rare outside large automated sky-survey programmes, making the find particularly notable given that it occurred during testing rather than a dedicated search campaign.
First Spanish comet discovery in more than four decades
Calar Alto said the discovery is only the second comet ever detected using its Schmidt telescope, following a previous find in 1985. It added that the observation also marks the first new comet discovered from a Spanish observatory in over four decades, highlighting the rarity of the event in Spain’s modern astronomical history.
Astronomers have emphasised that further observations are required to fully understand the object’s physical behaviour and long-term orbit, and that its classification remains under review.
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